A lawmaker accused of molesting a teen killed himself. His widow calls it a 'high-tech lynching.'

Timothy D. Easley / AP

Kentucky State Rep. Dan Johnson addresses the public from his church regarding sexual assault allegations in Louisville, Ky., on Dec. 12, 2017. Bullitt County Sheriff Donnie Tinnell said Johnson committed suicide on Dec. 13.

Kentucky State Rep. Dan Johnson addresses the public from his church regarding sexual assault allegations in Louisville, Ky., on Dec. 12, 2017. Bullitt County Sheriff Donnie Tinnell said Johnson committed suicide on Dec. 13.

(Timothy D. Easley / AP)

James Higdon and Marwa EltagouriThe Washington Post

Dan Johnson posted a final message on Facebook to his friends and family on Wednesday afternoon. It appeared to be a goodbye.

In it, he denied the accusations that had tormented him and his family for the past 48 hours - that he, a Kentucky state representative and the self-proclaimed "Pope" of his Louisville church - had gotten drunk and molested a 17-year-old girl during a sleepover at the church years ago.

"GOD knows the truth, nothing is the way they make it out to be," he wrote in the since-deleted post. "I cannot handle it any longer . . . BUT HEAVEN IS MY HOME."

Johnson then drove to a graffiti-covered bridge near Mount Washington, Kentucky, a quiet and isolated spot called the River Bottoms. He parked, got out of his car and shot himself with a .40-caliber handgun, according to Bullitt County Sheriff Donnie Tinnell.

The apparent suicide of a well-known local Republican here was another dark and dramatic turn in the nation's recent reckoning with sexual assault and harassment, with near-daily revelations about powerful men leading to sudden falls from positions of power in entertainment, business, the media and politics. Many of those cases have led to denials, resignations, apologies; though Johnson denied the allegations, some believe they pushed him over the edge.

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The second round of the Pure Silk Championship at Kingsmill. On hole nine, Nasa Hataoka, Carlota Ciganda and Lexi Thompson.

The second round of the Pure Silk Championship at Kingsmill. On hole nine, Nasa Hataoka, Carlota Ciganda and Lexi Thompson.

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The second round of the Pure Silk Championship at Kingsmill. On hole nine, Nasa Hataoka, Carlota Ciganda and Lexi Thompson.

The second round of the Pure Silk Championship at Kingsmill. On hole nine, Nasa Hataoka, Carlota Ciganda and Lexi Thompson.

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Residents of Emporia, Va say the city has a wealth of options for passing travelers.

Residents of Emporia, Va say the city has a wealth of options for passing travelers.

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Dan Zarpentine from New York made a family trip to share in the experience of the LPGA Pure Silk Championship at Kingsmill Williamsburg.

Dan Zarpentine from New York made a family trip to share in the experience of the LPGA Pure Silk Championship at Kingsmill Williamsburg.

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The first round of the LPGA Pure Silk Championship at Kingsmill in Williamsburg.

The first round of the LPGA Pure Silk Championship at Kingsmill in Williamsburg.

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Hurricane season for 2019 in the Atlantic is starting early. A storm in the area has already been given a name. But forecasters say 'Subtropical Storm Andrea' will not be a threat for the eastern part of the U.S. They add that Andrea won't be very strong either. Still, the storm has appeared nearly two weeks before hurricane season in the Atlantic begins.

Hurricane season for 2019 in the Atlantic is starting early. A storm in the area has already been given a name. But forecasters say 'Subtropical Storm Andrea' will not be a threat for the eastern part of the U.S. They add that Andrea won't be very strong either. Still, the storm has appeared nearly two weeks before hurricane season in the Atlantic begins.

Johnson's wife, Rebecca, announced Thursday that she plans to replace him in the state legislature. She spent the day at a funeral home arranging her husband's service, consoling her relatives and continuing to do what she does best - fighting for her family, said David Adams, a family friend and spokesman.

"Dan is gone but the story of his life is far from over," Rebecca Johnson said through Adams. "These high-tech lynchings based on lies and half-truths can't be allowed to win the day. I've been fighting behind my husband for 30 years and his fight will go on."

Johnson's death shook his family, friends, constituents and members of his church, with Kentucky's political elite immediately expressing their sadness. Gov. Matt Bevin, R, wrote on Twitter: "My heart breaks for his family . . . May God indeed shed His grace on us all," and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said in a tweet, "I cannot imagine his pain or the heartbreak his family is dealing with."

The tumult began Monday, when the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting published allegations that Johnson sexually assaulted his daughter's friend during a sleepover in 2013.

The young woman, now 21, was quoted as saying that for years she had considered Johnson to be a "second dad." She became close with his daughter and familiar with the boozy weekend parties Johnson would throw at the "Pope's House" - the fellowship hall next to the Heart of Fire Church. Those parties, the Center reported, featured scantily clad women, body shots and costumes.

In the first hours of 2013, as a New Year's Eve party came to an end, the woman said, she was spending the night with Johnson's daughter in the apartment under the fellowship hall, according to the report. The Washington Post generally does not identify victims of sexual assault without their consent.

The woman said Johnson entered the apartment, drunk and stumbling, so the then-teenager helped him navigate the stairs. She thought he was putting his arm around her for balance, until his hand allegedly slipped up the girl's shirt, the Center reported.

Later that night, she said, she awoke on a sofa as Johnson knelt above her. She told the Center that Johnson kissed her forehead and then slipped his hands up her shirt and into her pants. She begged him to stop and tried to force the man, who weighed twice as much as she did, off her without waking Johnson's daughter.

"He told her she'd like it. She said no, she didn't. She pleaded with him: go away, go away," the report said. He eventually did.

"What you did was beyond mean; it was evil," the woman said she wrote in a Facebook message to Johnson shortly after the alleged assault, according to the account.

The Center's seven-month investigation, comprised of more than 100 interviews and thousands of pages of public records, alleges that the Republican's persona was orchestrated to mask troubling incidents - including sexual abuse, arson and false testimony. It says that Johnson - known in his church community as "Danny Ray Johnson" - painted a picture of himself over the years as a pro-gun, antiabortion "patriot," which helped propel him into the Kentucky legislature in 2016, when he won the House's 49th District seat.

Michael Skoler, the president of Louisville Public Media - which operates the Center - said in a statement that the organization was "deeply sad" to hear about Johnson's death and was grieving "for his family, friends, church community and constituents."

"Our aim, as always, is to provide the public with fact-based, unbiased reporting and hold public officials accountable for their actions," Skoler said. "As part of our process, we reached out to Representative Johnson numerous times over the course of a seven-month investigation. He declined requests to talk about our findings."

Paul Ham, chairman of the Bullitt County GOP, said the community is not handling his death well and slammed the reported allegations, saying they were "the catalyst that started the whole thing."

"The story was based on hearsay: no arrest, no conviction, no jail time," Ham said. "Back when the Constitution meant something, a man could stand before a jury of his peers. But now, it's just, 'Let's just make some accusations and run with it.' We're in a very bad place."

Bevin on Thursday also called for an end to "all the nasty, vulgar comments &amp; other despicable responses to the news."

The Heart of Fire Church website has photos of Johnson with former presidents Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, as well as with New York officials including former mayor Rudolph Giuliani and governor George Pataki. The church sponsored a "Bike Ministry," and Johnson is shown clad in a leather outfit in the lead of a flock of motorcyclists.

The church's website said that Johnson was in New York City during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and he had claimed that he helped police officers and firefighters at Ground Zero immediately after the attack. On the Heart of Fire's Facebook page, Johnson is referred to as a "911 First Responder."